Chapter 8

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Protagonist:

Lin Yi

If he hadn't spoken it would've been fine, but once he did, the four people around the mahjong table all raised their heads in unison, looking at him with equally cold gazes.

Pricked by that cold gaze, Lei Jun gave an awkward chuckle, carried his lunch box over to the side, found a chair to sit down, and began eating wholeheartedly, playing dead.

At the mahjong table, Lin Bin picked up a mahjong tile, his index finger lightly stroking it; his originally smiling face collapsed directly once he figured out what tile it was.

Because it was a One Dot, and they were playing Sichuan Mahjong missing one suit.

His hand contained Dots and Characters, missing Bams; if he didn't discard a Bam, he'd have to pay out.

But there weren't many tiles left on the table, the Two Bam had already appeared, but the One Dot had no trace yet; discarding it now meant nothing more than two possibilities: being claimed for a pung or being claimed for a kong.

He'd lose even more.

In short.

He was done for!

Thinking of the rules set before they started playing, he wished he could give himself a slap.

Why be sharp-tongued? Why play for a full hand? Why play missing one suit? Why miss Bams?

So annoying!

His right thumb once again traced over the One Dot pattern; Lin Bin hardened his heart and threw the One Dot onto the table.

"Kong!" Chen Kai quickly took up the topic, pushed out three One Dots, swept Lin Bin's One Dot in front of him into his own area, his face full of excitement as he rubbed his hands, reaching toward the end of the wall.

A Five Bam.

Perfect.

Placing the Five Bam properly, his fingers lightly shifted to the side, shifting toward that lonely Eight Dot.

Just as that Eight Dot was thrown onto the table, Lin Yi casually pushed down three Eight Dots.

"Kong!"

Reaching out, he drew a Seven Character from the end of the wall, shook it proudly before everyone, then inserted it back into his own hand.

Casually discarding a Six Bam.

Seeing the Bam he discarded, Zhao Ming and Chen Kai's faces showed a trace of frustration.

After the frustration, Zhao Ming drew a tile with a black face, a completely ordinary One Character.

Looking at this big discard, Zhao Ming sighed, casually throwing the tile onto the table.

"Hu! One Four Characters!" Lin Yi pushed down his tiles, pulling out the Two Character and Three Character separately, placing them to the side, then raised his hand to signal the others to look at his tiles.

Under his signal, Zhao Ming and the others leaned over, looked at his tile arrangement, then sat back down powerlessly in their chairs.

"Not playing, not playing! Eating." Lin Bin seized the opportunity to interject, picking up his lunch box and eating wholeheartedly.

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Lei Jun tilted his head and asked softly:

"How come I feel like you guys don't seem to like playing mahjong?"

He had just finished asking when the young man who had distributed the boxed meals to him explained softly:

"They've been sitting here for 40 minutes, played 3 rounds, and only this 4th round someone won."

"The previous three rounds were all played until the last tile, and no one won."

"How is that possible?" Lei Jun turned back to look at the mahjong table with a face full of disbelief, especially at Zhao Ming and Chen Kai beside the table.

These two were the people with the highest mahjong skills in the company, and in Sichuan hand-shuffled mahjong they were said to be invincible under heaven.

Otherwise they wouldn't have won meals from the restaurant owner.

But such two people actually fell at Lin Yi's hands?

Sensing the disbelief on his boss's face, the young man tilted his head and continued explaining:

"When they first came in, that Mr. Lin suggested playing Machine-Selected Mahjong, but General Manager Lin said no need, just play Hand-Shuffled Mahjong."

"When the first round started, Brother Zhao and Brother Chen were still talking and laughing."

"Later they stopped laughing."

"But that Mr. Lin was smiling from beginning to end, just that smile was a bit nasty."

The young man's explanation made Lei Jun clearly understand that his small-talk plan had failed.

Shoving the last mouthful of rice into his mouth, placing the lunch box on the side table, wiping his mouth with a tissue, he walked over nonchalantly:

"How was it? Did you have fun?"

"I'm very happy!" Lin Yi was the first to seize the topic, his eyes brimming with a sincere smile, staring at Lei Jun without blinking.

Their gazes met, and Lei Jun also returned a smile: "Since you had fun, shall we chat more?"

"Sure!" Lin Yi pulled out a chair and stood up, raising his hand to invite Lei Jun to go first.

Under Lei Jun's lead, the two returned to the Guest Room, the door closed, separating inside from outside.

Just as he sat down, Lei Jun couldn't wait to open his mouth:

"I hope Mr. Lin can join us! With your ability, plus our company's platform, we can definitely make a career."

"Even, dominate the world."

After speaking his thoughts, Lei Jun saw the young man in front of him calmly wave his hand with a composed face, followed immediately by a refusal:

"No need."

"For others, finding a partner can share the pressure, but I like to be the sole decision-maker."

"Finding a partner is undoubtedly asking for trouble."

A clear refusal, but Lei Jun showed no displeasure at being turned down; instead, he rubbed his hands together and changed his approach.

"I think I can invest in your company—silent equity, no interference in your command. What do you think?"

"Don't rush to refuse. Out in the world, one more friend means one more road. I think that if you can find me at a time like this to borrow money, it shows my character is still acceptable in your eyes."

"How about it?"

Lin Yi rested his chin on his hand, neither clearly refusing nor clearly agreeing.

After pondering for a long while, he finally lifted his eyes, his gaze carrying a question:

"How much are you prepared to invest?"

No sooner had he asked than he saw the person opposite raise two fingers:

"20 million. This time you borrow 500 million, I give you 520 million. At our agreed time, you pay me back 500 million, and that 20 million is my investment."

"Of course, lending you money also requires your cooperation."

"Point one: you must give me a business plan regarding your entrepreneurial direction."

"Point two: as you said, I will send a professional finance team to your territory to guarantee fund safety."

Lei Jun spoke very quickly; within two or three seconds, he had laid out everything in his heart.

Then he stared at Lin Yi without blinking, afraid the person opposite would refuse.

Last time he missed the pig farm investment, every time he woke in the middle of the night, he slapped his own thigh, wondering why he hadn't offered more money when negotiating with the pig farm boss.

Now he had met someone possibly stronger than the pig farm boss. At a time like this, if he still hemmed and hawed and let this investment slip, then in the middle of the night he would surely beat himself to death.

Under his expectant gaze, Lin Yi slowly raised his right hand, five fingers spread:

"5%. I can give you at most 5% equity, and you cannot use your own name. It's best to find a company with no connection whatsoever to invest."

This number made Lei Jun instinctively frown. 5% was very low; even for a very promising company, at the start, 20 million could buy a lot of equity.

But with this young man, he actually only intended to give himself 5%. 5%!

Annoyed in his heart, yet at the same time more curious: what was this young man preparing to do, what was he making, that he could treat 20 million as nothing?

He hadn't yet opened his mouth when Lin Yi pointed a right index finger at his head:

"Later, major shareholders will move in. Now 5% is worth 20 million; later, 5% could be 200 million, 20 billion, 200 billion."

Hearing Lin Yi's boastful words, Lei Jun stepped back half a step, his eyes carrying a measure of scrutiny:

"You wouldn't be planning something bad, would you?"